The weekly menu

I actually have some recipes that I created in this post!  Imagine that!  But in truth, I did get most inspiration from books and blogs, as I tend to these days.

I already shared our (meatless) Monday dinner here.  We only had a small serving of leftovers – not enough to make a full meal – so I had it as part of a lunch later that week, bulked up with hemp seeds, avocado, and more greens.  I think I eat 1-2 avocados a day.  And P is in a similar rut.  It’s pricey.

So anyway, Tuesday I made a chicken and bean bake – this time with bone-in breasts, white beans, and turnips.  Play by play?  Ok!

Fresh herbs from the garden include thyme, rosemary, basil, and parsley (unpictured because I wanted to let P pick them and he was napping while I prepped).  Plus salt and pepper.

Whole Foods has Mary’s organic free range bone-in breasts on sale this week for 3.99 per lb.  Go get some.  I froze extras for next week, too.  Can’t pass up that deal.

I chopped the herbs up and mixed them with equal parts honey, shallot infused olive oil, and dijon mustard.  Then I stuffed the mixture under the skin and rubbed it all over the breasts.

Baked with foil at 350 degrees for ~40 minutes and then broiled without the foil for the last few minutes to get some bronzing on top.

This was falling off the bone juicy and I even convinced P to try a few bites of it.  He had a bunch of beans though, which is a big deal since he has previously poo-poo-ed while beans.

Wednesday was market and since I’ve been kinda over the options I decided to make some stuff to bring, picnic style.

First up was lentil and potato salad.  I prepped potatoes over the weekend (scrubbed and salted and thrown in the greased crock pot overnight – easy as that).

I didn’t measure things, but this was super yummy so here’s roughly what I used: 12-15 small yukon gold potatoes (red potatoes will work), 3/4 cup cooked French lentils and sliced red onion with a dijon tarragon dressing.

For the dressing I used 2-3 tbsp garlic infused olive oil, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and 1/4 tsp dried tarragon.

I also made a curried chicken salad.  Since I had planned our meals out ahead, I baked two extra (plain) chicken breasts the previous day (when the oven was going for the chicken and bean bake).

So I shredded those, then tossed the meat in mayo, curry powder, sunflower seeds, celery, dried cranberries, salt and pepper.

Boom.  With watermelon and Late July tortillas chips on the side.  All allergen safe.

I used mayo that doesn’t have soybean oil (be sure to check that yours is canola oil based only).  TJs makes one variety that’s just canola oil, but all the rest have soybean and they are frequently out of stock of the soy-free option.  Fortunately, WFs has one that’s also purely canola oil (see above).

Thursday was another vegetarian dinner.

Lentil rice bowls, with wild rice, crumbled goat feta, and a lemon avocado parsley dressing.  The dressing took the longest (hands on time) to make and that was all of 10 minutes.  So yeah, not labor intensive as far as meals go but really really good.

OMG this dressing!  Totally deserves posting the recipe.

Lemon Avocado and Parsley Dressing [gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, egg free, vegan]

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado
• 1 large lemon (or 2 small ones), juiced
• 2 tbsp garlic infused olive oil
• handful parsley (doesn’t have to be exact)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Blend everything together until creamy thick dressing forms.  Add more oil for desired consistency (as written this makes a very thick sauce like dressing).

Notes: TJs makes a garlic infused olive oil as well, but if you can’t find one feel free to add 1 tsp minced garlic and plain olive oil instead.

You gotta make this!

Friday was spaghetti with beef and mushrooms.  I finally tried the one-pot-spaghetti technique that’s been all the rage for the past year (longer? I don’t know…I’m out of touch).

I was nervous about the idea of cooking noodles with everything else and having it not end up as noodle soup, but it was a-okay.  And I even used GF noodles (which can be gummy if not treated specially – drained right after they’ve been cooked through).

Here’s the recipe I took inspiration from, although there are tons and tons out there.  I believe Martha Stewart was the first to share the idea, but don’t quote me on that.

I liked that the beef (and for my version – the mushrooms too) were cooked first so I could take some out for P before doing the rest of the stuff.  He doesn’t like tomatoes or tomato sauce.  Can’t blame him – I hated tomatoes and their sauce (and all Italian food really – because marinara was ew) until I was in my 20s.  And even then I didn’t fully appreciate it because by then I was off dairy and let’s face it, most tomato-y dishes are paired with cheese cheese and more cheese.  So yeah.  Not gonna push him because eventually his palate may change, too.  In the meantime, I think it’s funny watching him pick tomatoes from the garden and try them, each time thinking the response will be different, and each time seeing him wince as the seeds gush out into his mouth and he realizes he definitely does not like tomatoes.  Gotta love that he keeps on trying…

We have mellow things planned for the holiday weekend.  Kyle’s grilling on Saturday and then we will do al fresco nibbles on Sunday and have a neighbor’s paella feast on Monday.  Plus some park dates, splash pad fun, and a minor league baseball game.  Looking forward to the family time, very much.  Enjoy all!